Farmers will resume their ‘Dilli Chalo’ march from the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border, over a host of demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP. Tight security and heavy barricading are in place at the borders near Delhi in view of the protest.
Farmers, who have been camping at the Punjab-Haryana borders for over nine months, will resume their protest march to Parliament on Friday to press their demands over a host of issues, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP). Farmers have been stationed at Shambhu and Khanauri borders since February 13.
In view of the protest, which will begin at 1 pm from Shambhu border, security has been tightened and police said they have enough forces to deal with the farmers. Heavy barricading has been done and the Ambala district administration has banned gatherings of five or more people.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said farmers would march on foot instead of taking tractors. Around 100 farmers are expected to begin the march from the Shambhu border.
“We have been sitting here for the past eight months. In response to accusations that our tractors are modified, we have decided to march to Delhi on foot,” Pandher said. He added that the farmers’ movement has received support from khap panchayats and members of the business community.
Farmers are mainly seeking a legal guarantee for MSP for crops and had earlier attempted to march towards Delhi on February 13 and February 21. However, they were stopped by security forces at Shambhu and Khanauri on Punjab-Haryana borders. Farmers, under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points since then.
The march comes after months of stalled communication with the central government. “In February, we held four rounds of talks, but since February 18, there have been no further discussions,” Pandher said while calling for renewed discussions to address the farmers’ concerns.
Residents of Delhi-NCR may face traffic jams as security has been tightened at the borders and barricades installed at key routes. Earlier this week, a similar protest by farmers from Uttar Pradesh inconvenienced thousands of people commuting to work in their vehicles.
WHAT ARE THE FARMERS DEMANDING
Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are demanding a debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, and no hike in electricity tariff. They are also demanding “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
On Monday, Pandher said a delegation of farmers had met Ambala’s Superintendent of Police (SP) and informed the police about their protest march towards Delhi on December 6.
Stressing that the protest would be peaceful, Pandher said, “The district administration has accused us of carrying weapons, but we will march peacefully.”
